Coin-handling apparatus



E. B. PAUL.

COIN HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MA LZBI 1919.

1,374,468. Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

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E. 8. PAUL, COIN HANDLING APPARATUS.- APPLICATION FILED MAR.2B, 1919.

Patented Apr. 12, 1921 5 SHEVETSSHEET 2.

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Edward Pal/Z v r/ L WJrZMA E. B. PAUL. .COIN HANDLING APPARATUS APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28. 1919.

Patented Apr., 12, 192 1.

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com HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28, I919.v

liamtented Apr; 12, 1921..

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- 36 6mm 115w Edward 3. Paul 35 5% aim mega I E. 8. PAUL.

COIN HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.2B. 1919.

Patented Apr. 12,

5 SHEETSSH'EET a.

Z PW w UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

EDWARD B. PAUL, OF LANCASTER. PENNSYLVANIA. ASSIGNOR TO LANCASTER AUTO- MATIC MACHINE COMPANY, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

COIN-HANDLING APPARATUS.

Original application filed November 16, 1918, Serial No. 262,767. Divided and this application filed To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD B. PAUL, a citizen of the United States, residing at 7 North Duke street, Lancaster, in the county of Lancaster, Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin-Handling Apparatus (Case B and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention .which relates to coin handling apparatus is directed particularly to mechanism for feeding coins, one at a time to any apparatus in which the coins are to be assorted, counted orvotherwise acted upon. This mechanism may be employed in conjunction withthe coin assorting and counting apparatus constituting the subject matterof my co-pending application Serial No. 262,767 filed November 16,

1918, of which the present application'is a division, or it may be employed in conjunction with any other form of coin handling apparatus in which it is desired that the coins shallbe fed, one at a time, to some other part of the apparatus for subsequent disposal.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a receptacle into Which coins may be supplied in quantity and which has an inclined bottom made up of a rotary 1 portion provided with a number of coin receiving pockets and a fixed portion provided with an aperture and also serving as a support for the rotary portion which by its movement 'over the fixed portion will cause the coin receiving pockets to be brought successively into registration with the aperture in the fixed portion to permit the coins to fall there-through. one at a time, into the apparatus with Which the feeding mechanism is associated. In connection with the re eptacle there is a deflector mounted on its rear wall in position to defiect the coins as they fall into the receptacle, so that they will lie fiat upon the bottom in insure that they shall be picked up in the pockets as the bottom rotates.

The particular nature of the invention, as well as other objects and advantages thereof, Will appear more clearly from the descrip- March 28, 1919. Serial No. 285,928.

tion of a preferred embodiment which is shown in the accompanying drawings in combination with the coin handling mechanism forming the subject matter of my application referred to above. a In these drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the entire apparatus, chiefly in sec-.

tion;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation in section along the line 2-2 of Fig. l; r Fig. 3 is a plan view in section along line 83 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view line 4-4; of Fig. 1; V

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of parts of the assorting and counter actuating mechanism in section along the line,55 of Fig. 1; i

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the receptacle into which coins are supplied and by which they are fed one at a time into the assorting the mechanism; 7

- Fig. 7 is a rear elevation, showing the gear trains for driving'various parts of the apparatus, the'casing being taken in section along the line 77 of Fig.1; and

Figs.f8. '9, 10, and 11 are detailed views showing different positions assumed by the throughout the several views, 1 is the casing of the apparatus which should preferably be PatentedApr. 12, 1921.

in section along the I coin-controlled counter actuating devices,

constructed of metal and upon the top of which is a funnel 2 into which coins may be supplied. The lower end of the funnel is bent at a right angle and communicates with a rotary hopper 3 provided with an'aperture as at 4-. through which coins are discharged when the aperture occupies its lowermost position. The forward end of hopper 3 is 'rnovablv mounted in a suitable bearing formed in the front wall 5 of the coin feeding mechanism" into which the coins fall when thev leave the hopper. The "rear wall 7 of thismechanism supports at its upper ed e. a trunnion 8 attached to the closed end of the hopper andcarrying a gear 9 meshing with a pinion 10 on an axle attached to the wall7. and having a gear 11 meshing with a pin on 12 mounted on an axle on the rear with a pinion 14 on a shaft 15 mounted in a partition 16 extending between the side 7 walls of the casing. Associated with the pinion 14 is a gear 17,1which,through the train of gears and pinions 18, 19, 20, and 21, 18 connected to a shaft 22 mounted in a suitable bearing near the bottom of the partition 16. Slidably mounted on the end 01 shatt I which is attached to the shaft of a motor 26 ing mechanism of the apparatus.

suspended from'a bracket 27 which, at its upper end, is provided with hooks'QS adapted to fit over pins attached to the rear wall of the casing, the arrangement being such that when the bracket is in place, the weight of the motor will tend to hold the clutch members 23 and 25 firmly in engagement to provide a driving connection between the motor and the moving parts of the apparatus. v a

The coin feeding mechanism 6 into which coins are discharged from the hopper 3 ap pears most clearly in Figs. 1 and 6. It com prises a receptacle of oblong contour and considerably shorterat the front than at the back so as to provide for an inclined bottom. This bottom is made up oi. a lower plate 30 and an upper plate 31, connected together by pins or screws and between which is an annular support 32 attached to the lower edge of the wall of the receptacle, The combined'plates 30 and 31 are thus rotatably mounted 'at the bottomrof the coin receiving receptacle, and for imparting rotation to these combined plates, the periphery of the'lower plate is provided with beveled teeth meshing with a corresponding beveled gear 33 attached to the'innerend of shaft 15 and hence driven by the motor 26. Each of the plates 30 and 31 is provided with registering apertures'asat-3land 35 respectively, of which four are shown in the present case, although any other number may be provided. v The annular supporting member 32 1s provided with one aperture in its uppermost portion, as at 36, adapted to register with each pair of apertures in the tary plates as'these apertures pass over the upper portion of their path. 7

As a further refinement of the construction, each aperture in the upper plate 31 should be disposed slightly in advance of its corresponding aperture in the plate 30 so that when a coin which has been carried upward in the recess formed by the aperture in the upper plate, reaches the point where the apertures register with the aperture in the annular member, the coin will be tipped over to' insure its discharge into the assort- Also, in order to permit coins to be easily taken up by the pockets formed by the apertures 34:-

and the annular plate 32 when these apertures are in their lowermost positions, the edges of the same should be somewhat beyeled as indicated at 37 in Fig; 6. Attached to'the rear wall"? of the coin feeding receptacle, is a deflector 38 so constructed as to tip the coins as they fall into the lower part or" the receptacle and prevent any them from remainin on edo'eiao'ainst the rear wall 7 with possiblecloggingof the coins in the receptacle. V

The assorting device into which the coins are fed one at a time by the mechanism described ab'ove, appears most clearly in Fig. 5 from which it will be'seen that it comprises a'rhute 40 which terminates in a transversely extended, inclined run-way 41 permitting all other coins to pass beyond. The second progection 4:8 engages the quarters, retaining them in the pocket 13 and allowing the other coins to pass on. The third projection 49 engages the nickels, retaining them in the pocket 44: and allowing the pennies and dimes to pass on, the former being caught by projection 50 andheld'in pocket 45 and the dimes passing to theend of the run-way, where they are held in pocket 46/ V a V Y 7 Each of the coin-receiving pockets is pro vided with'an opening in its bottom through which the coinmay passas hereinafter described. The opening of each pocket is normally closed by means oi agate 51, it being understood that there is'a' separate gate for each pocket, and that the several gates and their associated parts are of similar con struction'. I

Each gate is composed of a shelf portion 52 anda step portion 53 spaced from the outer edge of the gate and which inthe normal position of the gatelies beneath the corresponding opening in the bottom of the coin receiving pocket, as shown most clearly in 8. zontal slide mounted between pairs of transverse supports 55 and 56 extending betweenthe sides of the casing. Each slide is normally drawn forward by a spring 57 fastened at one end'to a pin '58 attached to the slide' and at the other end to a pin 59 on the upper one of the transverse supports 55. As appears most clearly in the plan view (Fig; 3), each of the'slides 545 is cut Each gate'iscarried upon a hori- 1 away or slotted as at 60 to provide a space lower vertical portion, these portions being connected by a horizontal offset portion so that the lower portion is displaced to one tion of each bar is guided in slots formed in the transverse supporting members 55, as at 62, and the lower vertlcal portlon of each bar is guided by a transverse member 63.

As shown most clearly in the detail views, Figs. 8 to 11, the upper portion of eachbar is provided with a notch 64 having inclined sides of different length, and the bar is narrower above the notch than it is below. The notch is adapted to coiiperate with a lug 65 extending from the slide 54:, or between the sides of the slot in the slide in those cases where the reciprocating bars pass through slots instead of cut-away portions, as in the case or" the slides for controlling the halfdollars and quarters. Pivoted to the top of each bar 61, is a depending swing 66 which is provided with a slot 67 within which is a pin 68 extending from the corresponding slide in alinement with the lug 65. As appears most clearly in Fig. 3, the'swings associated with the units for controlling the half dollars and quarters pass through the slots in the slides 54 of these units, but in the case of the other units, the swings are arranged at one side of the cut-away portions of the slides through which the reciprocating bars pass.

For actuating the bars 61' and swings 66,

there are lifts 7O slidably mounted in vertireciprocating bar to which it' is attached.

Each lift has lugs projectings for its rear face to which is attached a link 7e connected to a crank on a transverse shaft 76 provided near one end with a bevel gear77 meshing with a pinion 78 on the end'of a stub shaft 79' (Fig. 4) which is the one on which the pinion 19 and gear 20 hereinbefor'e described are mounted. There is thus,

provided driving connection from the shaft 22 which is driven by the motor 26 and the shaft 76 by which the lifts are reciprocated' in their respective guideways.

The operation of the apparatus 15 as follows: Coins to be assorted are supplied to the hopper 3, which is rotated through the train portion of its path, coins will be discharged into the mechanism for feeding them one at a time to the coin asso-rting devices; The coins infalling into the receptacle of the feeding mechanism will strike the deflector 38 and be turned so as to lie-parallel to the rotary base 30, 31 of the feeding mechanism.

Since this base is continually driven through the gear 15 associated with the driving gears of the apparatus, the coins lying'uponthebase will be continually agitated and'picked up one at a time in the pockets 34 as the latter pass under the coins. As each pocket carries a coin upwardly, it will finally reach the point where the annular member 32 is cut away at 36, and when this occurs the coin will fall through the aperture into the chute 40 and drop into engagement with one of the projections'Z, 48, 49, or 50, on the lower end of the run-way according to its denomination; j

The gear train which drives'the plates 30, 31 of the mechanism by which the coins are fed one at a time to the assorting apparatus, should preferably be so related to the mechanism for controlling the gates beneath the coin pockets, that the gates are operated in proper timed relation to the disnism through the chute to their respective pockets, so that when a coin reaches its receivingpocket, the corresponding "slide 54: occupies the position shown in Fig. '8, with the top of the step 53 beneath the pocket,

so that the coin rests thereon. At this time the corresponding reciprocating bar 61 occupies the position shown in this figure, be-.

ing held by the lug 65 which is drawn into the bottom of the notch, and the swing 66 is drawn into the position shown by the slot and pin connection 67, 68. drawn downwardly by the rotationof shaft 76, its lug 71 finally engages the co6perat ing lug 'Z 2 upon the reciprocating bar, drawing the latter downwardly intothe position shown in Fig. 9. As the bar is drawnodownwardl'y, the shorter faceof its notch. will through its engagement with lug 55 cause the slide 54 to be retracted into theposition shown in Fig. 9 so that the coin will'drop from the top of the step 53 onto the shelf 52, but the slide will not be retracted enough to release the coin. As the reciprocating bar is drawn downwardly to retract the slide 54, the pin 68 which lies within the slot 67 of the corresponding swing 66 will swing the latter into the position shown in Fig. 9 so that upon the following upward movement of the lift 70, the upper edge 7 3 of the latter will engage the lower rear edge of the swing and carry'the latter and the reciprocating bar connected to it upwardly. As soon as the reciprocating bar begins to As the lift is rise, the notch therein will release the lug 65 and the slide 5a associated therewith from. its retracted position, and the spring 57 will tend to draw the slide forwardly, but such forward movement will soon be arrested by the-step 53 coming into engagement with the edge of the coin, thus pre-' venting the 'lug 65 from following the in- .cl-ine of the notch and holding it in a position wlth respect to the latter as indicated in Fig. 10. The slot 67 in the swing is so shaped that during the upward movement of the swing and'thelimited forward movement of the slide until the step engages the edge of the coin, the swing will be held toward the rear with its lower corner above the edge of the lift 70. As long as the swing is in engagement with the lift, the

reciprocating bar will be raised, and in the present case this action will continue throughout the entire upward stroke of the lift, but after a slight rise of the reciproeating bar the longer face of its notch will engage the lug 65 and force the latter back to produce a corresponding movement of the slide 54 with the result that when the lift reaches its upper limit of movement,

the slide will be retracted nough to remove the gate 51 from beneath the coin, thus allowing the latter to fall out of its pocket into a suitable chute 80 by which it is conveyed to a suitable receptacle, or to mechas nism for wrapping the coins.

The shaft 76 is continually driven and the lifts 70 are continually reciprocating, but it is only when a coin is in a pocket that the sequence of operations described above. and illustrated in Figs. 8, 9,10 and 11 will occur. At other times, that is, when'there is no coin in a pocket, the corresponding reciprocating bar and its associated slide will normally occupy the position shown in Fig. 8, and when the corresponding lift .passes downwardly to draw the bar into the position shown in Fig. 9, the slide will be retracted as above described. When there is no coin resting upon the gate, there will be nothing to prevent the forward move ment of the slide to its-normal position, so that the lug 65 following the shorter side of the notch will pass to the bottom of the notch as thebar rises, and the corresponding swing 66 will through the pin and slot connection be swung forward. enough to above, but owing to the length of the coin run-way, the dimes and pennies will require 7 an appreciably longer time to reach their respective pockets than will the coins of larger diameter. When each of the coins reaches its stop, the corresponding shelf should be in the position shown in Fig. 8. in order to compensate for the different length of the paths over which coinsof difierent denominations have to pass, the cranks 7 5 are angularly displaced upon the shaft 76 with relation to each other, so that their lifts 7 0 cause the corresponding reciprocating bars and slides to be operated in proper timed relation to each other.

In the apparatus described above, the rise of the reciprocating bars into the position shown in Fig. 11 is utilized to actuate a register, of the type shown in my copending applicationSerial No. 262,767, and also to' control the operation of wrapping mechanism such as is shown in that application, and which also forms the sub ect matter of a copending divisional application Serial No. 285,929 filed Mar. '28, 1919.

The register is mounted in the upper front part of casing 1 and comprises a casing within which are counters adapted to be actuated by gears which in turn are operated by arms mounted upon a common shaft and arranged withtheir inner ends lying in the paths of the reciprocating bars. Since the complete details of this registering mechanism areincluded in the subject matter of my copending application Serial No.

2 2,767 they will not be further described herein.

The wrapping mechanism mounted in the bottom of easing 1 comprises a number of units each adapted to wrap coins of a particular denomination, which are supplied through a chute 80 from the corresponding coin pocket of the asserting and counting mechanism. Each unit of the 'wrapping mechanism comprises a series of receptacles adapted to'hold wrappers into which coins may be supplied one at a time as they are discharged from the asserting and counting mechanism. When a predetermined number I of coins have been deposited in a wrapper the receptacles are advanced to bringan f bar 61 it goes to its upper limit of movement due to the presence of a coin in the pocket, so that for each co1n counted an actuation of a moving element of the wrapping mechanism takes place, and when a number of such. actuationscorresponding to the number of coins to be supplied to each wrapper, has occurred, the moving element acts to advance the, receptaclesto bring an empty wrapper into position to have coins supplied thereto. Associated with each unit of the wrapping mechanism is a device for crimping the ends of the stantialiy the same size and shape as the pockets, and means for moving said movable bottom portion to bring said coin-re ceiving pockets successively into register with said aperture to permit a coin to fall therethrough and be discharged from the feeder.

2. Apparatus for feeding coins to a coinhandling mechanism, comprising a receptacle, a rotatable bottom for said receptacle provided with coin-receiving pockets,a fixed annular bottom portion upon which said rotatable bottom is supported, said annular bottom portion being provided with an aperture of substantially the same size and shape as the pockets, and means for rotating said rotatable bottom portion to bring the coin- 3 receiving pockets therein successively into register with said aperture to permit a coin to fall therethrough and bedischarged from the feeding apparatus.

8. Apparatus for feeding coins to a coin handling mechanism, comprising a receptacle having a fixed vertical wall and an inclined circular rotary bottom provided with a plurality of coin receiving pockets, the outer portions of which lie adjacent to the fixed wall, an inclined fixed annular bottom portion upon which said rotatable bottom is supported, said fixed bottom portion being provided with an aperture in its upper part, and means for moving the said rotatable bottom to bring the coin-receiving pockets therein successively into register with the aperture to permit coins to falltherethrough and be discharged from the feeding apparatus.

4:. Apparatus for feedingcoins to a coinhandling mechanism, comprising a recep- This wrapping tacle, a movable bottom for said receptacle formed of a pair ofhcircular plates connected to each other, an annular member extending between the circular plates and upon which cular plates being provided with registering apertures on opposite sides of the annular member, the apertures in the upper plate forming in connection with the annular member coin-receiving pockets, said annularsaid plates are rotatably mounted, said cir-i member being provided with an aperture in the path of the registering apertures in the plates, and means for rotating said plates to cause theapertures'therein to successively coincide-with the, aperture in the: annular permit coins to fall from the member to pockets. I

5. Apparatus for feeding coins to a coma tacle, an inclinedrotarybottom for said rei 'ceptacle provided with. a plurality of coin receiving pockets, an inclined fixed annular bottom portion upon which said rotatable bottom is supported, said fixed bottom portion being provided with an aperture in its upper part, means for rotating said'rotatable 7 bottom to bring the coin-receiving pockets therein successively into register with the handling mechanism, comprising, a .recepaperture to permit coinsto fall therethrough and be discharged from the feeding apparatus, and means mounted on the rear wall of the receptacle to cause'coins to be deflected so that they lie flat upon the movable bottom in, position to fall into the pockets therein as the latter pass under the coins.

6. Apparatus for feeding coins toa coin handling mechanism, comprising a receptacle, a movable bottom for said receptacle formed of upper and lower circular plates.

connected together, an annular member extending between the circular plates and upon which they are rotatably mounted, said circular plates being provided withcooperating apertures on opposite sides of the annular member, the apertures in the upper plate being disposed slightly in advance of the correspondingapertures in the. lower plate,

7105 and forming in connection with the annular,

member coin-receiving pockets, said annular member being provided withan' aperture in the path of the cooperating apertures in' the 2 plates, and means for rotating the plates to the annular member to permit coins to fall from the pockets.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EDWARD B. PAUL.

.110 cause the cooperating apertures there n tosuccessively co1ncide with the aperture 1n 

